Ask HN: IP cameras that don't require an app or internet?

I've been using Amcrest and foscam IP cameras at my home for the past several years. I have then connected to a no internet VLAN with an NVR.

The models I've been using have an ethernet port and wifi. Setup was connecting to the ethernet port and then accessing the web ui in a browser to configure settings (most importantly turning on RTSP or ONVIF feeds). The cameras I have are starting to show their age and a couple of them are starting to fail (PTZ slow or require reboots every few weeks).

I picked up newer models from Amcrest and foscam assuming they would have the same set up procedure (i made sure to get ethernet+wifi models and did research on being RSTP capable) but they all require downloading an app and creating an account to set them up, even if the end configuration is without internet for local video)

The foscam cameras have a web ui that just has links to the app stores and the amcrest cameras don't have any web ui available. I tried directly accessing the RTSP URLs and still no luck. both apps require account creation in order to use.

I've also tried some tp link, wyze and aqara cameras in the past but they all required an app/account. They also had the worst reliability, both in connection stability and physical failure rates.

Does anyone have specific model numbers of currently purchasable (US) IP cameras that genuinely don't require an app and account to set up?

UniFi Protect cameras can all be set up in standalone mode by visiting the camera's IP address in a web browser — they will obtain an address from DHCP by default. From there you can set up the RTSP streams which become accessible from the camera IP directly. You do not need to use a UniFi Protect app or console in this configuration.

This is a very disturbing trend for sure. Given that these new cameras that need accounts sure aren’t showing ads on the feeds either, meanwhile an account being required must be important to the manufacturers in some way.

I can only conclude that they must be selling access to feeds, because even the most incompetent agile product delivery manager type person isn’t going to simply suggest every camera needs an account along with all the extra engineering requirements involved for that for simply no reason - there surely must be a financial motive.

Furthermore what good is the feed if they can’t also sell the associated metadata, such as the account holders details, nearby WiFi access points, the list of devices on the network.

This is yet another angle they can use to try track every aspect of a home including the infamous example of Samsung “analysing” what type of content you’re watching and selling that to ad companies.

OP is probably better off looking at enterprise/industrial manufacturers.

I bought a couple Amcrests just a week ago, and they still operate identically to ones I purchased back in 2017. They have apparently been re-branding Dahua's software, since the HTTP APIs are identical, and there are still lots of "Dauha" strings in the configs[0].

I think a lot of the problems with IP cams aren't with the cameras themselves, but the poor state of open-source media players. Getting mplayer, ffplay, or vlc to play nicely with any ipcam has been a Labor of Hercules. If you're using the versions in repos--which are usually quite stale--all bets are off. I've had much better luck using the latest installers, direct from the project websites. So far, VLC seems to work best for me[1].

[0] https://github.com/BourgeoisBear/amdacli

[1] https://www.videolan.org/vlc/

I'm assuming, given where you're asking, that it would be fine to suggest a DIY option?

If so: on my desk right now is a Raspberry Pi Zero with a NoIR camera, configured so that when it gets power a small Python script starts up as a web server and begins hosting the camera output.

Here's the code for both the server and a webpage to auto-refresh the camera view. MIT license, so have fun:

https://github.com/BenWheatley/PiWebcam